This short story was part of a collection published after Jack London's death in 1916. The story is set in Hawaii in the year 1880. I've broken it into two parts. In the first we are introduced to Hardman Pool portrayed as a haole chief lording it over his retainers who are both natives and relatives. Knowing London's sense of humor I sense some of this was a parody of stories written by others. In part two we hear Kumuhana's harrowing tale of being selected as a moe pu'u to be sacrificed to serve a dead chief in the hereafter.
Early in the story a Hawaiian is described as being like a faun. The word doesn't mean Bambi (fawn). It means a satyr.
I've wanted to narrate this story for several years but it was only with the aid of a high school classmate who lives in Hawaii that I was able to tackle the many Hawaiian words.


This audio is part of the collection: Community Audio
It also belongs to collection:

Artist/Composer: Roy Trumbull
Keywords: Jack London; fiction; Hawaii; sacrifice; folklore; Hardman Pool; Kumuhana; Kahekili

Creative Commons license: Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States

Individual Files

Be the first to write a review
Downloaded 408 times Reviews